The Irish standard., 1887-07-09
WONDERFUL OPERATION.
a Newfoundland Dog's Ha:r Transp,ante e

! a Newfoundland Dogs H;,.r Fraa,;,!antetl
1 to Human Head.
A young ana wealthy New Yorker, who
| has been as bald as q blli;trl- Ill, will
! soon go back into sccie..y with 2 head OF
! curly hair which was procured for h N by
tran5plantation from a dog, writes a New
! York correspondent Of the Cincinnati
E,lgWiyvr. His case is one of the most re-
marl1able surgical operations ever known
in this city and perhaps in the world. The
young man is the private patent of the
consulting surgeon of St. Elizabeth Hos
| pital. Ha is the son of q well-known dry
| mansion on Fifth avenue. The young man
was graduated from Colun bia College
| about two years ago, and was sent to the
! University at Heidelberg 10 complete his
education 1t was there that he met with
a painful accident. He had taken & special
! course in chemistry, and spent much OF his
! time in the laboratory in the capacity OF
teachers assistant One evening. while
alone, he was overcome by the vapor OF sui
phuric acid, and before he could get to the
| open air fell unconscious. AS he rolled over
his head entered an open. fireplace, where
there was q large log burning, and his
hair caught on fire. He was found shortly
slfterward. His head was in frightful
condition.. The flesh running from the
forehead to the shoulders in the back of
the, neck was roasted. When he was lifted
from the floor portions Of the scalp fell
off, exposing the bone. His face was not
! much injured, save for about an inch on
the forehead. He was taken to his
room, and there began the battle for his
life 1t was feared that the brain had
/, been affected, as he remained in a COMA
! tose condition. There was watery de-
| post in the lungs, but it could not be de-
| termjnel whether this was due to the in
haling OF the yapor OF the acid or the
| iisn13 from the fire. The lung symptoms
became worse rapidly, and all hope was
given up oil saving his life. The best
| physicians in Germany were called to at
tend him, and every thing was done that
was known in medical science Nearly all
the flesh sloughed off from the skull,
leaving patch here and there, like an
oasis in a desert.
l. 1t was long time before his lungs
healed, and much longer before the horri-
bic wound bacame we'll enough to remove
the skull-cap bandage which he wore.
When he recovered his trength and came
home, the terrible Disagreement Of the
clcatrlcal tissue in the scalp was hidden
under Il wig. The wig would have been
annoying Irritation. Wigs OF every sort
were tried to overcome the diff Guilty, but
when the Irritation developed into a dis
trassing Inflammation from which dis
charging ulcer WIS forsnel. the wigs had
| to be abau loncd. When tn Il, hospital sur
geon's attention was called to the case
there was an ulcerated surface about as
large as silver dollar in the top Of the
| back head. He suggested the performance
Of a plastic operation, or the trans pianta-
ton OF skin. The patient expressed his
Willingness to undergo any thing, how
ever painful or inconvenient, and as be was
in fair physical condition, work was be-
gun at once. This was several months
ago. AS a preliminary test, g small sec
tion of skin and flesh was cut from the pa
tienl's breast and placed in the center Of
tile liberation in the scalp, which had
been previously scraped Until it bled pro-
fuseiy. The skin took root III an astonish-
ing short time, much to the qualification
OF the patient and physicians and from the
outer border of the 6ransplanted skin little
shoots Of healthy tissue protruaed into the
neig5lboring flesh and grew rapidly.
This was continued until the entire ulcer,
ated surface had healed and presented o
healthy appearance. In the new flesh
WulCu Ettl UECu tl1tlS IOliliSA biCIS WcSS os1
active growth of capillary subs tauce,
showing that the hair cells had not been
DESTROYED. This led the doctor to suggest
a novel experiment, which, if successful,
would not only cover the head of the pa.
tient with flesh but also with a beautiful
growth of curly hair. It was nothing less
than to try and transplant the skin Of
dog TO the PATIENTS head 1t took some
time for the patient TO overcome the nat
ursl aversion to such an operation, hut
finally ne gave his consent, especially as
his wealth and social position could not
compensate for the horrible deformity in
his head.
A large Newfoundland dog was procured
with fine coat Of hair, and the patient
was put under the influence Of ether in his
own room. The doctor had several assist
ants, one OF whom scraped a p ortion Of the
flesh from the top OF the pstieat's head.
While this was being done the dog was
anesthetizel. 7hs hair on one Of its
thighs Was cut close and an incislcn was
made several inches long. A parallel in
clsion was made near the first one, and at
the lower end these incisions were Joined
by a third ona. Tle flesh and skin were
then dissected up for several inches, leav.
lug the large flap united to the dog at the
upper end.
The dog had been placed in an adjustable
framework on wheels, and he was rolled
to the patients side and Taised even with
the head. While the blooi was pouring
from the dogs hesh it was placed upon the
patients head and pressed firmly into po-
sition. Strips of adhesive plaster were
run in various directions over the dog's
flesh and the patients head, and after the
entire wound had been busted with chloro.
form. bandages were applied. The dogs
legs and body had been previously strapped
SO that nothing could be moved but the
head, and this was permitted to be novel
only sideways. The patients tead was also
held by supports in such position as to
take the strain from the neck and restrict
all motion.
The operation took about an hour and
half, and when the patient became con-
scious fortunately there was no vomiting
from the ether. The relative positions Of
dog and man were maintained for a week.
The dog was fed regularly, but did not
seem to enjoy his food. The patients con-
dition was splendid, and when the flap was
severed from the dog it was found to be
firmly united to the head. As the healing
went on some of the hair dropped out, but
enough was left to make nice fringe cn
the forehead. The experiment was re-
-ah11r o,,oooccf,71 onfi coon tha